debut book
Black and white photo of an empty rocking chair with light streaming down from the top left corner. The text reads: "Nobody prepared me for this: 4 deadly sins" at the top and "Jean John-Edo" at the bottom right.

Nobody Prepared Me for This is a lyrical and raw examination of mourning that dismantles the tidy lie of stages and closure. Through four central "sins"—denial, anger, guilt, and resentment—the book offers a candid and vulnerable look at the unspoken truths of loss. It is a work of profound validation for anyone who has ever felt undone by grief and a powerful testament to the messy, complicated resilience of the human spirit.

A dark blue image showing an empty wooden rocking chair with a broken leg and a jagged edge on the seat, set against a dark background with subtle light reflections. The cover includes the title 'NOBODY PREPARED ME FOR THIS' in red, with the subtitle '4 DEADLY SINS' beneath it, and the author's name 'Jean John-Edo' in red at the bottom right. The cover also features small, white, line-drawn illustrations of a candle, a dove, a face mask, and a person sitting in a meditative pose.

Published: Kindle Direct Publishing, 2025


Format: Kindle and Paperback

Genre: Memoir / Grief / Essay collection

Award: Submitted for the Kindle Storyteller Prize 2025

“This is not a book about grief as a gentle storm. It is a book about grief as a riot. Loud, impolite, unrelenting.”

Buy Here

Book cover design by Jean John-Edo

Person with short blond hair, glasses, dark lipstick, and blue eyebrows wearing a black shirt with white text, standing against a white wall.
Interior of a grand, Gothic-style cathedral with ornate columns and a starry blue ceiling, featuring an altar at the front and pews on either side.
A person with short hair, sunglasses, and dark clothing walking on a rainy city street at dusk, with wet pavement, illuminated storefronts, cars, and tall buildings in the background.